Safety appliance for automobiles



S. LYONS.

I SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I0. 1921.

Patented Apr. 18, 1,922.

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S. LYONS.

v SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I0. 192i.

STATES@ SG-MUND LYUNSQ,'OF NEW YORK,..N. Y.V

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Igtentd APL, 18, 1922l g Applicationled February 10, 1921. Serial No. 443,846.

To f/ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, SIGMUND LYONS, a subject 'of the King of England,and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State ofNew York, have in# vented certain new and useful Improvements in SafetyAppliances for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is designed to afford simple but effective means whereby anautomobile using gasoline as the motive power may be safeguarded againstclandestine or unlawful use, and the invention consists essentially inrendering the machine inoperativecr operative by the withdrawal orinsertion of a key to locking and releasing mechanism by which thesupply of gasoline to the carburetter is controlled, as well as theelectrical circuits involved, substantially as hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1, is a sectional elevation illustrating the correlation of mysafety appliance to an auto-gasoline tank, dashboard, etc.;

Fig. 2, is a view on a larger scale with the' casing closure plateremoved, showingv i therefrom whenthe parts of its-1nechanism 'are inclosed or locked 'relationship will my. control mechanism in elevation;

Fig. 3, is a vertical sectional elevation taken upon general plane ofVline 3-3, Fig. 6; A

Fig. 4, is a transverse section' taken upon plane of line 4.-4, Fig. 2;

Fig. 5, is a transverse section taken upon plane of line 5 5, Fig. 2;

Fig. 6, is a transverse section taken upon general plane of line 6 6,Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 'is a sectional detail on a large scale, ofv the gasoline controllvalve;

Fig. 8, 1s a perspective view showing 'one ofthe hasps for. securing thecasing 'closure plate; Y Fig. 9, is a transverse section takenfuponplane of line 9-9, Fig. 3;

\ Fig. 10, is a diagram showing the elec-- tric circuits.

D, represents the dashboard', and D1, the..

rear wall or partition of the Yengine compartment of an automobile. T,represents a gasoline tank which may be of either the' gravity or vacuumtype, connected with the carburetter (not shown) by a transfer pipe t',in a manner Well known Yin thefart. For convenience of illustration theYtank T, is shown as positioned on the aforesaid partition D1, alth oughits location is not material to the inventio C, is the casing enclosingthe main actuating parts of my control mechanism, said casing beingclosed normally' by a side plate c, whichlmay be screwed (as at el) orotherwise detachably secured to the casing C,rs0 as to afford accessthereto Vwhen necessary, provided said cover c, Yis notV internallylocked in position as hereinafter set forth.

The casing C, is permanently secured to the partition D1, by means ofbolts or screws c", 0X, applied and accessible only within the casing C,as indicated in Fig. 3, so that the casing cannot be detached andremoved from the partition D1, While the closure plate c, is intact and.rigidly secured to the casing C. Positioned longitudinally within thecasing C, is a rock shaft R, mounted in iiXed bearings c2, c2. this rockshaft R, is shown as tubular, but this is not an essential constructionprovided the coupling end thereof is recessed to receive one extremityof the actuating tongue Z, the other end of which is rigidly attached to`the semi-rotatable barrel of a lock L, preferably of the pin type,although any lock the key of which can only be withdrawn the rock leverR, and the lock tongue-l, in

such manner that they will oscillate'together will answer the purpose ofmy invention,

In Fig. 3, of the drawings,

the distinctive` feature in this respect beingv Va rockable shaftcontrolled and actuated b an extension of the lock L; The latter'is bypreference. located on the dashboard D, andv is connected with thexworks casing by a tubular shield Z1, which r rOne or more-hasp hooks11, fri, are rigidly and radially secured to the rock shaft R, .forengagement with staples c3, c3, on the 'inner side of the rover plate e,when the latter is in position on the casing C, and the said rock shaftis in otherwise retracted tion of the valve stem v1 within the casino'mlnal jaws e, e, upon the insulating block c5, in the casing C', isinterposed between the said terminal jaws e, -e, thereby rendering thespark plug or ignition system, and the starter motor system of the caroperative, as will be understood by reference to the circuit diagramFig. 10.

.Simultaneously with this operation, the

'partial rotation of the rock shaft R, as above stated causes the cam r,on the rock shaft R, to act against the shoulder o, on the portherebyraising the lower end of said valve stem v1, preferably bevelled to actas a needle valve v2, away from the valve seat t, said valve seat t,being positioned in the lower part of a stand tube t1, which isconnected with the casing C, and extends through the gasoline tankT,-inlets t2, t2, being formed in said stand tube t1, above the valveseat t, for the -low oA gasoline (when the valve Q12, is open) to andthrough the conduit fv, to the carhuretter in a man! ner well known inthe art. A spring t3, interposed between a shoulder v, on the valve rodw1, and the cap at the upper end of the stand tube t1, tends constantlyto hold 'the valve '02, to its seat, as shown in Fig.l 3.

The releasing of the operative parts by the turning of the key f, asabove set forth, also results in the withdrawal of the hasp hooks r1,r1, from the staples c, c, on the inside of the cover plate C, so thatthe latter can be unscrewed and removed if access is required to theparts inside the casing C. if desired. This of course cannot be donewhen the hasp hooks r1, r1, are in engagement with the staples c, c, asis normally the case when the key r, is withdrawn from the lock L.

From the foregoing it will be seen that in the absence of the hey 7c,the auto-car is inoperative, and that a simple half turn of the key 7c,in the lock L, renders the car available for immediate use. `Furthermorethe operative parts of my control mechanism are isolated and protected,and cannot be tampered with unless actually ruptured or destroyed.

What l cla-im as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. An automobile safety appliance of the character designated,comprising a casing. a lock, a rock shaft enclosed in said casing, andcontrolled by said lock,- a valve stem with a shoulder, a cam on saidrock shaft, adapted to contact with the shoulder on the valve stempositioned in part in said caslng,

-said valve stem forming a part of a. valve positioned in a gasolinetank and controlling the supplyof gasoline to the carburetter, a springwhich tends normally to close said valve, a closure plate and means forlocking the same, the locked condition vof said closure'platebeingcontrolled by said rock shaft for .the-purpose described.

2. An' aiitoll'bbilesafety appliance of the charactersignated,compr1sing a casing, a lock, a 'ock'shaft'enclosed in said.'casing,

and controlled'hy-fsaid lock, a valve stem with a shoulder-',- .electricterminals positioned in said'fcasii'ig and-'forming p art of an electriccircuit,- connectedwith the sparking motor starter, andlight systemslofthe car, 'a circuit closer onjsaid rockjshafha cam on said rock shaft,"aldaptedv'tocontact with the shoulder on the valve stein.. positioned inpart in said casing, said valve stem forming a part of aIvalvepositioned in a gasoline tank and controlling the supply ofgasoline to the carburetter, a spring which tends normally to close saidvalve, a closure plate and means for locking the same, the lockedcondition of said closure plate being controlled by said rock shaft, forthe purpose describe A i An automobile safety appliance of the characterdesignated, comprising a casing, a lock, a rock shaftenclosed in saidcasing, and controlled by said lock, a valve stem with a shoulder,electric terminals posi- 'tioned in said casing and forming part of anelectric circuit connected with the sparking, motor starter. and lightlsystems of the car, a cireuitcloser on said' rock shaft, a cam on saidrock shaft. adapted to .contact with the shoulder on the valve stempositioned in part in said casing, said valve stem forming shaft`electric terminals positioned within said casing, a gasoline supplyvalve, a. eircuit closer on' said rock shaft adapted to contac-t withsaid electrical terminals. and means on said rock shaft for controllingthe gasoline supply valve extraneously positioned in a gasoline tank,for the purpose described. l

In an automobile safety appliance of the character designated, thecombination gather with means on the said rock shaft 10 and closureplate for internally securing the closure plate of the casing, for thepurpose describedf A SIGMUND LYONS.

VVitnesses-z GEO. WM. MIA'rr, DOROTHY MIA'".

